Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-04-08
CURRENT AFFAIRS.
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An EXTRACT FROM THE ANNUAL ADDRESS
uF MRs. J. L. PERKINS OF ST. JoHNsBURY,
PRESIDENT or THE VERMONT W. C. T.U.
To this temperance question the
Thought Of the world ~ being turned The
wreck Of life through intemperance chal
lenges attention. Every sentiment Of phil
anthropy, of patriotism, and Of religion, de
mand that the curse of alcoholism be ami
hilatcd As you know, rhythm and rapid
" mark the difference between music and
noise. The discharge Of a cannon may
shiver your windows, but music has power
to thrill nanimate objects and even to throw
down massive structures The Kings bus.
mess demands haste We cannot afford to
waste any time in noise or discordant eff
fort. Total abstinence, which has
been 50 long permeating the masses as IA
theory, is beginning to demand their allie
glance us a principle, capable of develop
ment into law, which can be made operative
toward the individual and for the safety Of
the state Answered prayer and hard work
are slowly betting the world with this prin-
ciple. In our country prohibition, which
has so long had place in law, has now ap
peared as a factor in politics. Reforms do
not turn on oiled hinges whether backed
10y Il party or 10y public sentiment but
truth once lodged in human hearts will
stick, and ON every field of righteous con
ilict the imponderabe power Of omnipotencc
will touch the scales when wrong PUSHES
d, 1 81.
are ours; ours the unWisdom, the lack of
charity, zeal too often without knowledge,
aud persistence without power. His the
lightning stroke, the revelation aud the con
summation. But pitiful beyond speech j,
the fact that when abstract right has made
its way in mems thoughts and is ready to
become applied right in law, then, when
the hour demands coolness ripe Judgment,
receptivty, kind of fury seizes upon many
minds, wise counsels are at discount and
he who PUSHES on in the darkness most ir-
reyereutly is too often followed as guide
The temperance cause has reached this crit
zeal point But the cause will triumph
Total abstinence viii become the law for
the individual and prohibition the law for
the state, Notwithstanding the harsh words,
cruel statements aud Incorporate language
with which public and private speech are
rife.
Happily for Us women, members of the
/ Vermont Woman's Christian Temperance
/ Union, We are not part Of this turmoil.
| Our work is constructive Who will may
tear down. We are building physiological
/ fact into the life of the nation, aad upon
I these facts the decision of this whole ques-
ton will yet turn. Ours becomes therefore
a ininistratiun Of real power.
That men fight each other when contend
ing for principle, instead of bending all
their power upon that which antagonizes
/ principle, is the blot upon all history This
intolerance toward opponents has lighted
martyr fires and let loose the devastating
flames Of war. In these contests friend,
hurl at each other envenomed shafts 1t
sometimes seems as though the cause was
forgotten in the blind fury of the fight.
Each stands for his own and hits hard. We
sludder at the amnesty shown aud the
savage epithets hurled; but in their own
way our brothers are fighting our battles
for Us, and from full hearts We devoutly
pray, God bless every man who, on any
side, fights this temperance battle" To u,
these all belong, and we to them.